Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technology for automatically switching a wireless network connection.
Description of the Related Art
Recently, network connection methods used in wireless communication between a terminal device and a communication device acting as a communication peer of the terminal device are becoming more diversified. For example, there is a connection method called infrastructure mode in which a wireless LAN function is used to connect through an access point, and a P2P connection method in which the terminal device and the communication device connect directly without using an access point. As an example, usage scenarios are being conducted in which an infrastructure mode connection is used indoors, while a P2P connection using Wi-Fi Direct is used outdoors.
In addition, some terminal devices include an onboard operating system (OS) that automatically selects a network connection method that enables connection to the Internet, or automatically breaks a connection to reduce power consumption.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-97344 discloses a method of deciding a priority ranking of access points to use, and automatically establishing a network connection through an access point in accordance with the priority ranking.
However, the connection methods between a terminal device A and a communication device B, as well as the networks that the communication device B is able to communicate with, may include connections that go through an access point in some cases, and Wi-Fi Direct connections that do not go through an access point in other cases. The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-97344 decides a priority ranking of relay devices to use, but does not consider the communication environment, such as other connection methods that the communication device B acting as the communication peer may take, or other networks that the communication device B is able to communicate with. Consequently, in a case of the communication device B using a direct connection method as another communication environment that is different from going through an access point, the communication environment of the communication device B is not considered, and the terminal device A is unable to switch the network connection to a direct connection method automatically.